Orrville municipal power to replace its out-of-date controls

Published: January 15, 2001 12:00 AM

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Inside the control room, it is quiet save for the low, underlying hum of machinery. Banks of switches, video monitors and row after row of lights and buttons give the room the appearance of a starship bridge.

The mechanical organism it controls is firmly planted in Orrville, not flashing through the outer reaches of space, but its function and purpose are the same.

The control room of the Orrville municipal power plant is the helm, nerve center, sensory organs and controls that keep the incredibly complex facility working to provide electricity to thousands of citizens, the businesses and industry that are Orrville.

That control room, last upgraded in the 1980s to replace one installed in the 1950s, is soon to undergo a $1.2 million upgrade.

"The control room currently in use has outlived its life-expectancy. It's past due to be upgraded," said Mayor Dennis Steiner, adding, "Components can't be found or have to be sent out for expensive repairs. It's important that we have the best equipment in place to monitor the plant's production. It's past time something was done."

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Jeff Brediger, electric utility manager for Orrville Public Utilities explained, "The control room is the nerve center of the power plant. It controls all functions of all the equipment operation.

"It monitors power distribution, voltage and amperage, controls the amount of fuel going to the steam generators and the steam turbines. Through computer-programmable logic controls it works to operate dozens of pieces of equipment from water pumps and air fans to monitoring and adjusting temperatures.

"Literally, thousands of miles of wire run from the equipment and its sensors and controls into the room and its computers."

Brediger said neither the hardware nor the software for the power plant controls have been supported for several years.

"Spare parts come very dear and repairs are extremely costly," Brediger said, "Back in the '80s, this was state-of-the-art. We actually spent more then -- $3 million -- than we will to upgrade it now. A lot of the sensors on the machines don't need to be replaced and the big payback for this investment will be improvements in efficiency -- saving fuel, helping to operate the equipment at optimal levels and provide a wealth of data and information on the equipment. We'll get that information back quicker to provide faster answers about better ways to operate. As well, the operators can run computer models to get the results of an action before actually implementing a change."